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Chapter 36
Previous Chapter Marcus laid in his bed, back in the safehouse provided by Agent Carter. It had been a week since breaking into HaleLabs, but there were no major breakthroughs about Organization MERLIN from the data they had took. He took his pillow and rubbed it into his face, groaning with impatience. He tapped his fingers on his leg. He looked at the clock near the bed. No matter how strong the soldiers, without the general, any army is beatable. He would find the leader. He would find whoever was behind the Organization and make them pay for destroying his way of life. But with no leads, he couldn't do anything. He looked at the clock again. Time seemed to move unbearably slow. --- Han was walking up a dirt path into the mountains. He was alone, halfway around the world. It had been a week of constantly looking over his back for fear of being recognized by MERLIN agents. The paranoia, coupled with the stress of looming deadlines at work, prompted him to take a quick vacation. "To visit an sick, elderly relative", he explained when asked, although that was barely even half-true. Master Qiankai was old, yes. But laughably far from sick or frail. The dirt path turned to stone tiles. Han regretted bringing his old shoes on the trip. They were comfortable on the long plane ride, but they were so thin he could feel every edge, every piece of paving that had settled down or were pushed upwards by its neighbors. He eventually reached the point where tiles turned to the first steps up to the temple. His old nemesis. Between the humidity, the oppressive heat, and the abnormal height of each stone block, he cursed whoever built this place with each laboring step. --- The two stories of the temple were topped in soot-covered tiles, its eaves flared towards the sky. Unlike other temples where paint would be rigorously applied to disguise the aging wood, it seemed like Master Qiankai did no such thing, so sun-bleached reds and greens faded along with the wood. It was fronted by a large pillared gate, which was what Han was using to support himself while catching his breath. After his muscles were sufficiently refreshed, he made his way towards the front doors. Carved stone formed a small bridge over a surrounding moat. Both were in shabby condition, the white stone long since turned grey and dirty and the water green with neglect. Han had a déjà vu moment when he saw a single lotus miraculously dot the shallow water, though its flower was already dead. Han pushed open the front doors, each creaking loudly as if they were neglected limbs finally being stretched. Stepping over the raised threshold, he announced his arrival, "Master Qiankai! It's Han!! Are you home?" --- "Can you at least pretend to be cold?" asked Vincent, shivering. "It's creepy." "Most people don't question things, because they lack the gift. They take life as it is. They agree when the world tells them they're weak. They eat disappointment until they rot, and then they lie down and die. The rest of us? Our gifts aren't our powers, it's our experiences. We learn how to refuse. How to fight back at the world. We learn how to survive. You're a survivor." Next Chapter